Vaporizing apparatus



Apri14, 195o B. E. cARLsoN 2,502,777

vAPoRIzING APPARATUS Filed June 18, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 I /5 F/gj /4 April 4, 1950 B. E. CARLSON 2,502,777

vAPoRIzING APPARATUS Filed June 18, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

5 R RD CHRLso/v Bm M f) may Patented Apr. 4, 195() UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,502,77 7 vAroRIzING PPARATUS Bernard E. Carlson, Placentia, Calif.

Application June 18, 1948, Serial No. 33,865

3 Claims. i

This invention comprehends the provision of a vessel adapted to contain a volume of mixed liquids or liquid and suspended material and means for introducing a gas under pressure into the vessel while the same is sealed against the atmosphere so that some of the gas will be taken into solution and for thereafter suddenly releasing the built up pressure so that the gas in solution saturated with the liquid be given oilc forming vapor due to the sudden fall in temperature due to fall in pressure, the vapor being exhausted for use as may be required and the suspended or contained material may be recovered.

It is sometimes desirable to separate liquid from a powdered or dissolved material carried thereby without heat. In such a case a current of gaseous medium passed over the liquid when separation of the liquid from the contained material was substantially complete would result in the material being blown away but by the use of my invention such a separation may be carried out without diiiiculty.

An object is to intermittently inject into the vessel compressed air or other gases alternatively with the exhaust of certain volatile elements derived from the contained liquid through the employment of alternately operable valves which are mechanically actuated so that one valve will be suddenly opened while the other remains closed.

Another object is to provide a separating unit having the mentioned characteristics and which is adapted for use in a system comprising a plurality oi units interconnected and arranged for creating the same or diierent kinds of volatile uids selectively.

Other objects will appear as the description oi my invention progresses.

I have shown a preferred form of apparatus embodying my invention in the appended drawings, subject to modification within the scope oi the herein included claims, without departing from the spirit of the invention.Y

In said drawings:

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic plan'view of a single unit form of apparatus;

Fig. 2 is a section elevation of the same on line 2 2 of Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of a suitable type oi power operating mechanism applicable to the apparatus;

Fig. 4 is a top plan View of a single unit;

Fig. 5 is a sectional plan on line 5-5 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary elevation of the upper portion of a unit as viewed from the right side of Fig. 2; I

Fig. '7 is a plan, in diagram, of a multiple unit apparatus in which the several units are arranged on a common horizontal plane and interconnected for selective operation;

Fig. 8 is a reduced scale end elevational diagram of the same; and

Fig. 9 is an elevational diagram showing a plurality of units arranged in superposed relation and interconnected.

Briefly described, my apparatus includes a tank A having a head I with a pressure inlet 2 through which a gaseous element under pressure may be injected into the tank and a diametrically opposite outlet 3 through which the products of the tank may be exhausted in the form of a vapor laden gas. Inlet 2 has a pipe 5 connected therewith and provided with a shut-off valve T and is adapted to be connected with a source of air or other gas under pressure, as for instance a compressor or pressure tank 9. Outlet 3 is connected with a pipe 6 leading from a vacuum pump I i! of suitable capacity and which is only illustrated diagrammatically in the drawing. Pipe ii is provided with a valve 8. A valve operating mechanism B is mounted on head I and is operatively connected with a transmission unit C which in turn, is driven as by means of a motor D or otherwise.

Tank A is mounted on a suitable frame E which has an extension Er on which the transmission unit C and motor D may be mounted. Tank A has a pipe, or as shown, a pair of iiuid pipes II and I3 attached thereto near its bottom with valves I2 and I4, respectively, for the purpose of introducing a liquid or diiierent liquids into the lower portion of the tank. A drain pipe I5 having a valve I6 is attached to the bottom 2l of the tank for obvious purposes, and a gauge I'I of conventional form may be attached to the wall of the tank for indicating the level or" the liquid in the tank.

I prefer to form the tank with a cylindrical body i8 having a flange I9 adapted to seat upon the top of the frame E and attached thereto as by means of bolts 20, a concave bottom portion 2i and a conical or dome shaped top 22, all of which members are suitably secured together for providing a leak-proof tank. Top 22 terminates in a reduced neck 23 formed with a flange 2li for receiving a flange 25 of head I, said anges being attached as by means of bolts 26.

Head I is formed with the inlets 2 and 3 diametrically alined and horizontal passages 2'! and 28 extended inwardly from the ports of the inlet and outlet, respectively, and in communica-tion with separate vertical passages 29 and 30 which are open at their lower extremities to the interior of tank A and at such points provide seats for valves 3i and 32, which, respectively, regulate the admission and exhaust of a gas into and from the tank. Said valves have stems 33 and 34, respectively, which extend upwardly through the passages 29 and 3D and thence through the top of the head l to points substantially thereabove where they are provided with heads 35 and 35. between which heads and the top of head l compression springs 31 and 38 are carried on the valve stems for normally urging the Valves into closed positions. A partition 39 formed in the head l prevents communication between the passages 29 and 3H.

A bracket 40 is mounted in a central position between springs 3l and 38 and is attached to the top of the head or, in lieu thereof, a post may be provided on an integral with the head for pivotally supporting a valve actuating bar 4l which is pivotally mounted on said bracket or post at 42 so that portions of the bar on opposite sides of the pintle 42 will engage the top of heads 35 and 3G of the Valve stems for the purpose of intermittently and alternately opening the valves 3l and 32 as said bar cscillates on its pintle. The tension of springs 3l and 3S serve to close the valves upon the retraction of the corresponding portion of bar 4l.

Valves 3l and 32 are mechanically actuated by the power driven transmission unit C which is mounted on frame extension E together with motor D, or otherwise. As shown, however, unit C includes a gear box 43 which encloses a worm 44 xed to a shaft 45 operatively connected with the spindle of motor D, and a worm gear 46 drivingly connected with worm 44 and carried on a transverse shaft 4l. A crank 48 is xed to shaft 4l externally of gear box 43 and serves to oscillate bar 4| by means of a connecting rod 49 which has its lower extremity 5U pivoted on a crank pin 5l and its upper extremity universally connected with bar 4l as by means of a xture 5t with a depending portion 54 pivotally attached to bar 4I and rod 49, respectively, by pintles 5l and 55. Crank pin 5l may be radially adjustable on crank 48, as by means of a tongue and groove connection of conventional character if desirable for varying the throw of the crank i to meet varying conditions of use. Hence, bar 4I will be moved upwardly and thence downwardly once in each revolution of crank 8 for intermittently and alternately opening the Valves Si and 32.

In operation, with a suitable volume 0f liquid in the bottom of tank A, a supply of compressed air or other gas under suitable pressure is alternately admitted to the tank through inlet 2 and passage 29 upon the opening of valve 3l on each down stroke of connecting rod 4S, while on the upward stroke thereof valve 32 will similarly open so as to apply suction to the upper portion of the tank through outlet 3 and passage 3B. When one of the valves is open the other valve will be automatically closed by means of the springs 31 and 38. Thus, air or other gas admitted to the tank under pressure will create pressure in the tank which is relieved only upon the sudden opening of valve 32. In the event that the residual pressure in the tank is insufcient to fully evacuate the tank of its vapors due to the rapidity of the valve operations, I may, but not necessarily, employ vacuum as by the use of a vacuum pump l0 and pipe 6, in addition to the use of pressure so as to completely scavenge the tank of its vaporous contents at each operation.

Referring to Figs. 7 and 8, I have shown a form of apparatus embodying a plurality oi units identical with that shown in Fig. 2 in which a single crank 48a may be employed for operating a pair of units or a multiple crank 58a may be used for a greater number of units when they are arranged as shown in Fig. '7 and thereby reducing the mechanism to a minimum of cost and number of parts. When a multiple crank is used it may be formed similar to a crank shaft of an internal combustion engine with oiset crank portions 48h in positions for common connections with the crank connected extremities of bars 4| of opposed units, in which case said bars extend inwardly instead of outwardly as in Fig. 2. In this form of apparatus the pipes 5, 6, Il, and i3 of the several units are connected as shown or otherwise with manifolds 58, 5S, 6D and 5l, respectively, and may embody in their connections suitable shut-oil valves of the character designated at 'l and 8 with sources of liquid and air or gas as well as vacuum supply to which said manifolds lead, as shown.

In Fig. 9 is shown a plurality of superposed units in which the valves 3l and 32 of all units are operable by a single crank 48, a single connecting rod 49 and a plurality of link rods 62 which connect the bars 4l of the lowermost unit with the next highest unit and, in order and successively other of said units, so as to simultaneously operate all of the units by means of a single mechanism.

From the foregoing description it will be noted that my system of uid separation is compre hensive and permits the employment of dilerent units oi a battery or different elements ol a single unit for diierent purposes.

I have ascertained by experimentation that water, milk gasoline, petroleum distillate and motor oils of diierent gravity are susceptible to vaporization in my apparatus to substantially uniform extents, under dilerent pressures, ranging from one to one hundred pounds per square inch, provided only, that the built up pressure in the container above the level of the contained liquid is suddenly released into the vacuum connected outlet. Moreover, I have found that it is not necessary to completely relieve the pressure in the tank, for when pressure, however low it may be, is suddenly and momentarily released, the pressure element as well as certain constituents of the contained liquid will be simultaneously discharged from the tank in the form of a vapor at each releasing operation.

I claim:

l. An apparatus of the character described comprising: a tank having a single chamber for containing liquid and vaporous contents and provided with an inlet for airl or gas under pressure, and an outlet for a vaporous product, separate valves controlling said inlet and said outlet, means for normally holding said valves closed, each of said valves having an externally extended stem, a single actuator bar pivotally mounted on the tank at a point midway oi and engaging portions of said valve stems, a prime mover operatively connected with said actuator and adapted to intermittently and alternately open and close said valves to control the injection of air or gas and exhaust of vapor, respectively, and means for introducing liquid into the tank` 2. An apparatus of the character described comprising: a tank having a cylindrical bottom,

portion for the reception of a liquid and an upper portion of gradually reducing area for the reception of air or gas under pressure, a head attached to the top of the tank provided with an inlet and an outlet, separate valves controlling the inlet and the outlet, means connected With the inlet for injecting air or gas under pressure to the tank, means connected with the outlet for exhausting the vaporous contents thereof, said valves having stems extending through said head, springs carried by said stems for urging the valves into normally closed positions, a single actuator associated With said stem for alternately opening the valves when the actuator is moved in opposite directions, a prime mover operatively connected with said actuator for intermittently actuating said valves, and means for supplying a liquid to the tank at will. f

3. Vaporizing apparatus comprising: a closed vessel; an inlet through the Wall of said vessel for gas under pressure; valve means controlling said inlet; means for introducing liquid into said vessel; means effective to close said liquid inlet when a volume of liquid sufficient to partly iill said vvessel has been introduced therein; an outlet through the wall of the vessel; valve means controlling said outlet; and means intermittently effective to open the gasinlet valve while holding the outlet valve closed and open the outlet valve to rapidly relieve the gas pressure in the vessel, while holding the gas inlet valve closed, the apparatus being effective to intermittently force gas under pressure into said liquid and then to cause the gas to rapidly leave the liquid saturated therewith, the moisture laden gas escaping from the vessel through the outlet an operating lever elective when moved in one direction to open the inlet valve and close the outlet valve and when moved in the reverse direction to close the inlet valve and open the outlet Valve; and means for continuously moving said lever alternately in one direction and then the reverse direction.

BERNARD E. CARLSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED s'rATEs PATENTS Number Name Date 688,711 Amtlior Dec. 10, 1901 874,264 Volney 1 Dec. 17, 1907 1,287,467 Seaman v Dec. 10, 1918 1,390,341 Cushing Sept. 13, 1921 

